In a typical image forming device, such as a standard laser printer, the media transport system usually includes five general areas: 1) a pick up area in which media from a supply source, such as a paper tray, is picked up a single sheet at a time; 2) a registration mechanism which aligns the print media in the image forming device and synchronizes the leading edge of the media with the print mechanism; 3) an imaging area in which the print mechanism applies the printed image to the media; 4) a fuser area in which the image is fused to the print media; and 5) an output transport mechanism through which the media is transported to an output tray after the media has exited the fuser.
The speed at which media travels through the image forming device has been limited by one or more of the processes. In a standard laser printer, the fuser mechanism limits the velocity of media since heat and pressure must be applied over a minimum time period in order to fuse the image to the media. The linear velocities of all of the rollers in the gear train are designed to be identical so that media transport speeds are synchronized in all areas. The electrophotographic printing process is completed as soon as the media exits from the fuser. However, even though the process is complete, the media is still transported from the fuser to the output area of the image forming device at the same linear velocity. The overall time needed to deliver a printed image to the user is unnecessarily lengthened because of the limited linear velocity determined by the fuser mechanism.
What is needed is a method and apparatus for decreasing the amount of time it takes to deliver a printed media sheet to the user from an image forming device.